Cravings, morning sickness and stress can make healthy choices challenging during pregnancy, however it is so important to give your body (and baby) all the vitamins, minerals and support it needs. Healthy lifestyle choices can impact not only your health during pregnancy but also make the time postpartum so much easier, here are some tips to try and help:

– Add an antioxidant, green and/or protein powder to your day: have it between meals in a smoothie as a snack, this will not only help you when cravings strike but also give you lots of great nutrients that are easily assimilated in the body.

– Increase your consumptions of fruit and veg. Leafy greens are full of folic acid which is super important during pregnancy, it helps blood and protein production and can reduce the risk of defects like spina-bifida. Veggies like sweet potato and spinach also contain lots of vitamin A which helps in the development of healthy skin and bones.

-Look after your intestinal health: take a probiotic and eat lots of fermented foods like sauerkraut, kim chi, kombucha, coconut yoghurt or tempeh. The gut is the foundation of our immune system, so taking care of it will help you fight of viruses and infections.

-Up your intake of Omega 3’s and good fats: nuts and nut butters are great (especially added to smoothies or cut up with veggies to dunk as a snack). Walnuts, eggs, avocados and flaxseeds are fantastic, look at maybe taking a supplement to help, find out what works for you!

-Water; water carries nutrient toe cells, so it is crucial during pregnancy to keep fluid intake up! A great way to do this is with vitamin infused water, this also makes sure you can keep track of how much you’re drinking (just drink at least a jug a day)

-Fibre: as well as the fibre in fruit and veg, focus on complex carbs like brown rice and whole grains like quinoa, amaranth, millet and buckwheat. Make your own ‘whole’ bread, the one above is full of nutrients and omega 3’s (including flaxseeds, nuts, seeds, protein and fermented ingredients). This makes it easy as a healthy snack or as a meal with a salad- preparation is key!

-Sleep and Sunshine are two non-dietary things that are also great to think about during pregnancy. Sleep is restorative and allows our bodies to heal, maybe add a little nap in the afternoon if you get too run down, avoid stress and finds ways to relax so as to not add unnecessary burdens on yourself and your body. Getting a little sunshine gets your body the Vitamin D it needs (which coincidentally helps with sleep) you can even kill two birds with one stone and go for a walk as well 🙂

– Listen to your body: your cravings are telling you something! Maybe you crave the probiotic qualities of pickles, or the sweetness of jelly beans (switch it up for lots of fruit), find healthy options of the things you crave instead of the easy option, pigging out on ice cream might satisfy an immediate craving but putting on too much weight during pregnancy can have other side effects. Avoid stressing yourself out, take care of yourself, cut yourself some slack and be kind to yourself 🙂